


The Dance and the Demons, Part 3: A Ring, a Donkey, and Sacks of Flour

by Zdenka



Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [3]
Category: 12 Dancing Princesses (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jewish, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Disguise, Gen, magic rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: The queen makes a plan and looks for someone to help her daughters.
Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187579
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	The Dance and the Demons, Part 3: A Ring, a Donkey, and Sacks of Flour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lea_hazel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/gifts).



> It turns out I couldn't quite wrap up the plot in three installments, and so the fourth and last part is in Purimgifts Extras.

By this time, the king had proceeded to offering larger and larger rewards, and finally he proclaimed that whoever could solve the mystery would be allowed to choose one of the princesses to marry. The queen was troubled by the idea of giving away one of her daughters as a prize in such a test, but she also knew it was no use to argue with the king in his current mood. She said to herself, “If this unknown man is to marry one of my daughters, I wish him to be a kind person, with a good heart.” And so she came up with a plan.

With help from a trusted maidservant whom she swore to secrecy, the queen disguised herself as a poor old woman. She loaded a donkey with heavy sacks of flour and secretly left the palace.

She stopped her donkey on the main road that led towards the capital and loosened the ropes that held the sacks of flour, letting them fall to the ground. The queen prayed, “Lord God, let me find the man who is meant to be the husband of one of my daughters, and the one who can save her and her sisters. Let him be the one who not only helps me load the sacks back onto the donkey, but offers to bring me safely home.”

Then she stood by the roadside calling out for help: “I cannot lift these sacks back onto my donkey! Is there any strong young man who can help me pick them up?”

She waited, and many travelers went by, on foot or horseback, in carts or fine carriages; some of them were great lords and princes, and she guessed they were on their way to the king to try to solve the mystery and seek to wed one of the princesses. But no one who passed by stopped to help her—some because they thought an old woman with her donkey was beneath their notice, others because they had many troubles occupying their minds, or they were in a hurry to earn something so that their families would have enough to eat.

Finally, a poor scholar along—on foot, since he had no horse. He stopped by the queen and said, “I am no longer young, but I will help you, grandmother.” He picked up the fallen sacks and carefully loaded them back on her donkey, fastening them securely. The disguised queen thanked him many times.

Then the scholar said, “It is getting late. Let me walk with you back to your house to make sure that nothing happens to you.”

“Thank you, thank you, good master scholar! You have a kind heart, and that may take you far in life.” The scholar helped the disguised queen onto the donkey, and he walked along beside her.

As they walked along, she asked him, “Where did you come from? And what brings you to this city?”

He said, “I was the student of a wise and pious rabbi who recently passed away. In his last years, he lived withdrawn from the world, thinking only of the study of Torah. But before he died, he made me promise that I would go out into the world, since he said it was not my fate to live alone. Since then, I have been wandering from place to place. But when I came to this kingdom, I heard that the king’s daughters are troubled by a strange affliction. It was in my mind to go to the palace and attempt to cure them, if the king would admit someone with no wealth or great name. Perhaps I could win the king’s favor and settle down here.”

The queen was pleased to hear him say this. She spoke with him of one thing and another as they went on their way. She was pleased with his manners and character, and she thought it would not be a bad thing if he became the husband of one of her daughters.

When they reached the gates of the city, she said, “This is far enough—I know my way from here. As for the king, go to the palace and do not fear. In exchange for your kindness, I can only give you this old ring. It has hidden powers, though I do not know what they are. But perhaps we will meet again. May the Holy One’s blessing go with you!” She put the ring in his hand, though he tried to refuse, and rode away on her donkey. She went back to the palace by a secret way, and had returned to her chambers and put on her royal robes again before anyone came to look for her.

The scholar examined the ring attentively, studying the obscure marks and mystic signs on it. From his studies, he could tell that the ring would conceal the wearer from the sight of others, whether they be human beings or demons. For the queen was alone in her chamber when she put on the ring, and so she did not know that she had become invisible. Heartened by this turn of events, the scholar made his way to the palace and asked leave to present himself before the king.

**Author's Note:**

> _Image Credit:_
> 
> Photograph by [Luis Palicio](https://unsplash.com/@palkify) at [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/).


End file.
